Gold

{42}

I smiled as I walked alongside Snow. Today was our tenth birthday and later we were having a ball.

We were going to show our mother, Queen  Eva, our gowns for the ball.

We walked into the room to see our mother talking to a servant.

"Do you like it?" Snow asked Mother, who smiled at each of us.

"Oh, my dear Snow. My dear Claire. You are both going to be the talk of the ball and not just because it's your birthday." Mother said, hugging us both.

I smiled at Mother. While Father seemed to adore Snow more, Mother made a point to show each of us equal amounts of affection.

"I can't believe you are both growing so fast. Which reminds me- I have a gift. They were my mother's." Mother said, leading us into another room.

I noticed two servants were trying on tiaras. One of the servants was Johanna, she'd been with us ever since I'd been born.

"Johanna." Mother said and she turned to us.

"Oh, oh Your Majesty! Please forgive me! I just wanted to see.." Johanna trailed off.

"How dare you? That's mine. It's not for a servant." Snow said and I looked to her in surprise. I'd never seen Snow act so mean before.

The other servant who'd been trying on the other tiara, the tiara I assumed was mine, looked at me nervously. I didn't say anything to her. Why would I be mean? She only wanted to appreciate a nice thing.

"It was my mistake." Johanna said.

"Servants don't wear crowns." Snow said and I jabbed her arm. "Snow, that's mean." I told her and she just looked ahead.

"Enough." Mother said angrily.

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty." Johanna apologized but Mother shook her head.

"No, I was talking to Snow." Mother corrected her.

"Me?" Snow asked in surprise.

"I thought I raised you better than that, Snow. It doesn't matter whether one is a servant or royalty. Everyone in the kingdom deserves our love and respect." Mother told her.

"But she took my tiara.." Snow argued.

"She apologized and it isn't yours yet. And Clarissa took Claire's tiara, but she did not insult her for it." Mother said and Snow looked down in shame.

"Your Majesty, it's all right." Johanna told Mother.

"Johanna, you're kind. But Snow must learn. My dear, we are all the same." Mother told her, then looked at me.

I supposed we were both learning this lesson, even though I already believed this way.

"But I thought we were the royals." Snow said.

"We are, but that doesn't make us better than anyone else. The upcoming ball for instance, can you tell me what it's for?" Mother asked Snow, who glanced to me.

"It's to honor Claire and I for our birthday." Snow answered.

"No. It's for you and your sister to honor them by showing them you will be kind and benevolent rulers when the time comes." Mother said as Johanna and Clarissa handed her the tiaras.

"When you two are crowned with these on your birthday, it will be a symbol that you will always hold goodness in your heart and rule justly. Do you understand?" Mother asked us.